Articles

New Light on Ammonites

Fossil sheds new light on ammonites as "geologists have been given a rare glimpse of what lived inside the shells of ammonites over 65 million years ago". Neville Hollingworth of the Natural Environment Research Council in Swindon, UK has found a fossil of Sigaloceras calloviense whose outer shell has dissolved away to reveal the outline of adductor muscles and tentacles in the honey-coloured calcite inside. According to Hollingworth, (New Scientist, 4 September 1999, page 25) these structures are very similar to those found in the nautilus, the ammonite's closest living relative. This specimen came from Fairford, Gloucestershire.

Editorial Comment: Not only does this indicate rapid burial and preservation, it adds to the evidence that all creatures have done one or more of two things, i.e. they have either become extinct, (e.g. dinosaurs and Dodo), or they have become less impressive through loss of size or features (e.g. crocodiles and platypus), and none have done anything but follow the Biblical pattern of producing their own kind. Dr. Jeffrey Cullis (Swindon, UK) has graciously donated some marvellous ammonite fossils for our research. (Ref. Design, Kind, Ammonite)